The present invention relates to a rotatable electro-optic measurement tapping device for a measured-variables transmitter. The transmitter is movably arranged in a receptacle which can be rotated about a shaft, the deflection of the measured-variables transmitter from an initial position being detected as the measured-variables value.
Rotatable electro-optic measurement tapping devices using beam waveguides (also known as "optical slip rings") are known per se. One such device, for example, is disclosed in German Patent Document DE 34 20 154 A1. However, devices of this type are suitable only for the transmission of signals from a movable to a fixed device component. If the movable component from which signals are to be transmitted is arranged in another receptacle which is also movable with respect to a fixed housing part, an additional separate transmission path would have to be provided.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive rotatable electro-optic measurement tapping device for a measured-variables transmitter which is movably arranged in a receptacle that can be rotated about a shaft, and by means of which the deflection of the measured-variables transmitter from an initial position is detected without contact, and is transmitted. In particular, the measurement tapping device according to the invention is suitable for measuring the deflection of an interior frame of a cardanically mounted gyroscope.
This object is achieved by a rotatable electro-optic measurement tapping device according to the invention in which an optically encoded scale is affixed to the gyroscope frame for sensing movement relative to the receptacle in which it is mounted, and a second optically encoded scale is affixed to a housing to sense relative rotational movement between the housing and the receptacle, with light from a light source being directed against the scales by an axially mounted fiber optic light guide.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.